When hairdresser Miriam Mamani puts on her electric-blue pollera skirt, matching shiny shawl and filigree jewellery, she becomes La Simpática Sonia – a not-so-sympathetic assailant with a fearsome reputation in the highly stylised world of Bolivian wrestling.

When Mamani and fellow fighters sashay into the ring, swaying their skirts and waving genteelly at the audience, they stand proudly as cholitas.

Once a derogatory term for indigenous women who were immediately identifiable thanks to their long skirts, bowler hatsand elaborate jewellery, it is now a badge of pride.

Mamani, 22, is a native Aymara, the indigenous group of the high plateau, or Altiplano, which straddles southern Peru and Bolivia. For decades, Aymara and other indigenous women were discriminated against, and sometimes banned from certain public spaces.

Today, the cholitas are unlikely stars of the wacky world of wrestling – competing in full dress during nights spiced with bawdy humour that attract both locals and growing numbers of tourists in the administrative capital, La Paz.

Mamani, who lives in El Alto, the fast-growing city of rural migrants on the rim of the high plain above La Paz, says she has felt a “big change”since Evo Morales came to power as the first indigenous president of Bolivia a decade ago.

“Before, women were discriminated against, especially cholitas, women with polleras,” she explains. “For example, it was very rare to see a cholita working in a bank. Nowadays you see cholitas working in banks, in secretarial jobs in offices and that racism doesn’t exist. We cholitas are more respected.”

Other cholita wrestlers agree that their public standing has improved, with some attributing the transformation at least partly to their visibility in the ring.

“We show that a woman can do whatever she puts her mind to,” says Mery Llanos, a veteran wrestler and pioneer for the sport. “We show society that we are strong and we respect our Aymara culture.”

After more than 12 years in the sport, Llanos, 33, still performs at bi-weekly shows as Juanita La Cariñosa, or the “affectionate Juanita”, delivering wince-inducing body-slams, dizzying aerial leaps and athletic somersaults. The women sometimes fight men, but mostly other women.

“We added the spice to Bolivian wrestling,” she chuckles. She makes it look effortless, but it was not always so easy. Making the transition, aged 15, from the martial art taekwondo to male-dominated wrestling required persistence and mental strength, she says.

“When I started there was a lot of machismo. The male wrestlers discriminated against the women, especially those in pollera skirts,” she explains. “They even tried to hurt us so we would give up. But for me it made me stronger – not just physically but also psychologically.”

Racism and violence against women have long bedevilled Bolivia, with indigenous women particularly vulnerable to domestic abuse and discrimination.

In March 2013, a law against domestic violence came into effect, setting out stiffer prison terms for aggressors and looking to establish women’s refuges in rural areas.

Mónica Novillo, executive director of Bolivia’s Coordinator for Women, an umbrella group of women’s organisations, says that while the law was an important first step, there is a need for “much clearer messages that violence against women will not be tolerated”.

Novillo says it is difficult to apply the law because the police force and judiciary are notoriously ineffective and corrupt. In fact, public frustration over alleged corruption and economic woes were at the root of Morales’ failed attempt last month to change the constitution to allow him to stand for another term.

“The government has been one of the most progressive in Latin American in promoting the rights of women and indigenous people,” said Novillo, noting that Morales had passed a raft of laws guaranteeing women’s rights and greater participation in decision-making.

“But we still have to change the way people think to guarantee a life between men and women based on equality,” she added.

A study published in 2013 by the Pan American Health Organisation found Bolivia had the highest level of violence against women out of 12 Latin American countries; 53% of women surveyed reported being the victim of physical or sexual violence from a partner, and 26% said they had suffered violence from a partner in the past 12 months. The data had been compiled over the previous decade.

Mamani says she feels empowered as a wrestler, and also credits the law for helping to change attitudes.

“Before, someone would hit a woman and no one would say anything,” she remarks. “Now that person would go to prison. There’s been a great deal of change with Evo Morales’ government.”